My mostly weekly round-up of interesting articles that relate to sustainable food and dining for those of you who don’t follow me on Facebook or Twitter, where I often post articles and recipes during the day as I come across them.

Interactive Food Map: Do You Know Where Your Food Is From?
Developed right here in Canada by USC Canada and ETC Group in Ottawa, Foodmap.org is an “online portal on seeds, biodiversity and food.” I’m just going to take the description right from their website: “The heart of Seedmap.org is an interactive map that uses Google technology to let you visit hundreds of case studies around the world where agricultural biodiversity originated, is threatened, and where people are working to safeguard it.” Seriously easy to get lost, in a good way, in this website. So cool!

Ontario Unanimously Passes Local Food Act.All I can say is, “Way to go Ontario!” The first legislation of its kind in Canada, the Local Foods Act will work to promote the wide array of foods that are grown and harvested in Ontario as well as increase the demand for homegrown foods among Ontarians. […] In addition to the aforementioned provisions, the Act includes a commitment from the government to create more economic opportunities for farmers by making more local foods available in markets, schools, cafeterias, grocery stores and restaurants, in turn bringing more of our dollars spent on food back into the local economy and also reducing the costs and environmental impact associated with importing food products from long distances.”

Factory Farms From AboveSome fantastic satellite imagery of factory farms are on display at Montreal’s McCord Museum as part of an exhibit by British artist Mishka Henner. As the article in wired.com notes, sure there is a sort of abstract beauty to the photos… but not to the farms themselves. The key feature in most of them are the manure lagoons. Yup. This is where most supermarket meats come from. The exhibit is on until January 14th. It’s free.

One of the feedlots and manure lagoons as seen from space.

The Truth About Grass-fed Beef
Wow: “A decade ago, there were only about 50 grass-fed-cattle operations left in the United States. Now, there are thousands and the numbers are growing.” Clearly grass-fed beef is hot. (Yay!) While not quite a tell-all (Actually, I find the title is a bit misleading.), this brief article and video by NPR gives an overview of grass-fed vs corn-fed beef, and then does a blind taste test. And in case you’re wondering what grass-fed cattle eat in the winter, primarily hay, haylage, and a bit of molasses, it would seem!

Did you come across some interesting food-related news stories recently? Or do you have thoughts on any of these stories? Let us know in the comments below. – See more at: http://www.mindfultable.ca/#sthash.vGbqsQM7.dpuf

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About The Mindful Table

The Mindful Table explores local and sustainable food and dining choices in Canada with a focus on Montreal and south-western Quebec. The blog was born out of my transition from eating as a vegetarian to an omnivore incorporating food choices consistent with my own ethics and views on sustainability.